Any good florist knows the value of good customer service, and its importance for building a strong, trustworthy brand. Sometimes though, no matter how hard you try, especially around major holiday’s or other busy floral occasions, you’ll encounter that “zilla” who misunderstood what you were going to design, changed her mind or simply wasn’t one you could ever satisfy.

Bad Customer Service | Image: jezebel.com

In the past, you might have worried a little about to whom she might complain. With today’s social media options, however, your concern should be tenfold. You cannot afford to have any disgruntled customers! In a recent survey by ClickFox, 16 percent of respondents said they would post negative comments after a bad customer-service experience compared to only 8 percent who said they would post a positive review.

Furthermore, while 52 percent of unhappy customers spout off to family and friends, an even more astounding 32 percent will stop doing business altogether with the company that wronged them. And when customers take to social media to air their discontent, more than 60 percent of consumers are influenced by these detrimental comments.

This just goes to show how serious the negative repercussions of bad customer service can be. So if you weren’t nervous in the past when a disgruntled customer left your shop or got off the phone, you certainly should be paying attention to these issues now. If you don’t, the situation could quickly spiral out of control, and the consequences could be devastating to your shop’s reputation.

The infographic below should give you a good idea of what customers hate the most about bad customer service and how they might react.

We hope you found this infographic interesting and that it will serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining good customer relations at all times. If you aren’t already active on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+, we highly recommend you look into doing so. Setting up a profile on these sites is not difficult and will definitely help you manage any customer-service issues that make their way into the public domain.

And, as a bonus, if done correctly, these channels can become an additional source of business for your flower shop and help create awareness around your brand. (We will write more about this aspect in upcoming articles.)

If you have any experience of your own with managing customer-service online, or you have any questions, we’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

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As the owners of a successful online flower and gifting website, not only are we experts in the floral industry and willing to share our knowledge and experience with anyone interested in learning about flowers, but we also have extensive experience with e-Commerce, web design, search engine optimization and internet marketing, and will be sharing this experience with fellow florists, to help them take their flower businesses to the next level. To stay in the loop, follow us on Facebook or Twitter. Brendon Held (Founder & Editor)

2 Comments to “The Effects of Bad Customer Service”

That’s scary that nearly one in five people would post negative comments online after a bad experience. Proves how important it is not to let a bad day (for your or your staff) impact your customers–and why you can’t let a customer’s bad day influence how you react, either.

Exactly Gina! Now more than ever in this day and age of the internet and super connectivity… the customer really is king, and needs to be treated that way if you want to build a strong brand.

In our own business, we have found that if a customer is really unhappy, and no matter what compensation we have offered to make up for an unfortunate mistake, giving the customer a full refund as a last resort (often even if the customer is wrong or at fault), ends up being cheaper for us in the long run, than if they run amok on review sites complaining. In fact, they usually appreciate our gesture and good will, and end becoming some of our most loyal customers.

As I always say, you have to give a little, to receive in life, and business…